UN vote on sanctions against Iran expected to be delayed

Source: CCTV.com | 12-22-2006 16:45

There might not be a vote on Friday over a Europe-sponsored draft UN resolution on sanctions against Iran. That's according to another round of informal talks in New York between the five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany. Russia has criticized key elements of the resolution. The vote is expected to be delayed until Saturday.

Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, said there were still two or three unsolved issues. Although he did approve of a ban on Iran's uranium enrichment, reprocessing, and heavy-water reactors. He called for further discussions of the resolution on Friday.

Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin said:"The effort now is to make sure that this is clear in the text of the resolution, and that the things which have nothing to do with those areas or activities, those parts of the Iranian nuclear program, are effected by this resolution."

However, Britain, France and Germany are still planning to call for a vote on Friday despite Russia's qualms.

In Washington, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says the US supports the draft UN resolution. But she expects some changes to be made to the draft before it's submitted to the UN Security Council.She expressed: "I just want to underscore that a Chapter 7 resolution puts Iran in some very unwelcome company in terms of the international community, in terms of the decisions that people will make about Iran as a partner in the international economy. And that more than anything is the importance of this resolution."

The resolution is a response to Iran's failure to comply with an August 31st UN deadline to suspend uranium enrichment and resume negotiations.

It would order all countries to ban the supply of specified materials and technology that could contribute to Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

It would also impose an asset freeze on key companies and individuals in the country's nuclear and missile programs, named on a UN list.

Editor:Ji Xuewen